Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Oct 24, 2008, at 4:55 PM, bob ford wrote:

> I've been a subscriber to BWH since their second year.  What was the  
> point of the article? Maybe I can spend time doing a search if you  
> can pointout some things from the article. I really would like to  
> live with no address, no place on any map.  Maybe it isn't possible,  
> but that sounds great to me ....bobf

I looked some more and can't find it. It is possible I got it  
someplace else.

The couple bought some Colorado land accessed only by an unmarked,  
unnamed road that ran through government land. They tried to get a  
post office box but could not because of a law that requires a  
physical address and the county had no address for the property. They  
could not register to vote. There were other things. You will not be  
able to have checking account, credit cards, car registration and  
other things without a legal address. As I recall, they finally in  
desperation got a friend to let them use the friend's house as their  
legal address.

Has it occurred to you that anyone living in seclusion would  
eventually and inevitably attract interest? I think it would cause  
more attention than simply living a low-profile life.

If you want maximal seclusion but still be low-profile, you could buy  
a place with seriously difficult access and build your house at the  
end of that long, rough road.

We get very few unwanted visitors at Heartwood, usually only tourists  
who are lost. They never come up to the house, just turn around and  
leave. This summer a guy drove up to the house. He lives on the other  
side of the river, had heard about me and I had heard about him. He  
had passed my road entrance many times visiting a neighbor a few miles  
further down the ridge road. A friend was visiting him, and the guy  
was showing him the area and finally drove down my steep road into the  
bottom of the hollow to check me out. We had good conversation and  
exchanged promises to get together after Chris and I get there next  
year.